plate no. 0061

Ligachevo

Konstantin Yuon, 1915

oil, canvasImpressionismlandscapesnowbuildingstreesskylandscapevillage

some experience helpful

Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in color mixing for snow and shadows, and in creating depth through atmospheric perspective. It's also good practice for capturing the texture of wood and the bare branches of winter trees.

technical profile

palette complexity

brushwork visibility

value contrast

compositional simplicity

study guide

est. 6 hrs

approach — 8 steps

step 01
Lightly sketch the main shapes: buildings, trees, and the path in the snow.
step 02
Block in the sky with a light blue, leaving some canvas visible.
step 03
Establish the basic colors of the buildings: browns, grays, and small areas of red and yellow.
step 04
Paint the snow using a mix of white, blue, and gray, paying attention to the shadows.
step 05
Add the trees, using thin branches and varying shades of brown and gray.
step 06
Refine the details of the buildings, such as the windows and roof lines.
step 07
Add highlights to the snow and buildings to create a sense of light.
step 08
Make final adjustments to the colors and values to create a cohesive composition.

color palette

primary · titanium white · ultramarine blue · burnt umber

secondary · yellow ochre · cadmium red · payne's gray

Mix white with small amounts of blue and umber for the snow. Use umber and white for the tree trunks. Mix blue and umber for grays in the roofs.

techniques

·broken color
·scumbling
·atmospheric perspective
·alla prima
·color temperature

common pitfalls

→Overmixing colors, resulting in muddy tones.
→Making the snow too uniformly white, ignoring the subtle color variations.
→Losing the sense of depth by not varying the color intensity of distant objects.
→Overworking the details, which can detract from the impressionistic style.